SPIRIT DOME returns with a perfect companion, LIVE ARCHIVE. Two out-of-print releases from this acclaimed ambient duo are brought together in this value-priced 2-CD release. Living proof of the power of live performance, these recordings are so immediate and engaging it would be easy to assume they were crafted over months in the studio. LIVE ARCHIVE, from their 1997 tour, serves as a natural complement to 2004's SPIRIT DOME, recorded live to stereo master in one take in a studio-like environment. LIVE ARCHIVE was originally released as a small run on the Groove label in Holland, and has been out of print for several years.

Steve Roach / Vidna Obama's 2002 CD INNERZONE served as the doorway to the surreal environment explored on SPIRIT DOME. Recorded in one continuous 74 minute session in a hotel room in Philadelphia, this is a dark sanctuary of pure texture and beautiful, if foreboding, dissonance pulled along with pulsing beats, subtle loops and dense soundworlds. The track captures a chilling gothic ambience that offers the exploration of remote psychological states of awareness. This is achieved by way of extensive live processing of instruments including fujara (overtone flute), guitar, and the seemingly bottomless wellspring of electro-acoustic sounds found only in the duo's soundscapes.

LIVE ARCHIVE, on the other hand, collects peak performance moments of pure energy and emotion from the duo's live adventures in Europe and the US. The wide range of venues, traveling to various countries, and above all their first tour together fueled their mutual intentions, challenging the artists to create music that does not know the limits of jet lag, equipment failures, and physical demands which occur when leaving the sanctuary of the studio. The sound is steeped in their tribal-ambient period. "Verucchio Invocation" opens the CD, recorded in an Italian Roman-era open amphitheater under the stars, and the experience evolves from this exotic moment.

The artists write: "While our experience reached a level of spontaneous interaction in the studio, it was an entirely different dimension when performing live on stage at a specific moment in time. It was as if we were communicating with each other blindfolded, focusing entirely on the sound appearing in the moment and being exchanged back and forth while the energy of the audience and the space helped feed the process. Although we briefly discussed the structure of each concert, the magic simply came alive when we took the live performance map outside any form of logical preparation, relying on our mutual passion and instinct for traveling in the soundcurrent."

iTunes Customers: The two albums are offered separately at iTunes: SPIRIT DOME and LIVE ARCHIVE

Steve Roach / Vidna Obmana's 2002 CD INNERZONE served as the doorway to the surreal environment explored on SPIRIT DOME. Recorded in one continuous 74-minute session, this is a dark sanctuary of pure texture and beautiful, if not at times foreboding, dissonance pulled along with pulsing beats, subtle loops and dense soundworlds. The single piece, "Spirit Dome," captures a chilling gothic ambience that offers the exploration of remote psychological states of awareness. This is achieved by way of extensive live processing of instruments including fujara (overtone flute), guitar, and the seemingly bottomless wellspring of electro-acoustic sounds found only in the duo's soundscapes.

SPIRIT DOME was created live on the spot in room 314, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 24th 2002, around 1 AM. Steve Roach and Vidna Obmana were in town preparing for their performance at the 2002 Gathering / Projekt Festival. With only a brief window of time in which to work together before returning to their homes on opposite sides of the Atlantic, their reaction to the claustrophobic urban environment reveals a new dimension to their sound.

When listening to the recording unfold, one has to keep remembering that this unscripted spontaneous creation was a live session recorded directly to the stereo master, just as you will hear. No post-production edits or overdubs were performed. Past discs from the duo include 1995's WELL OF SOULS, 1997's CAVERN OF SIRENS and 2002's INNERZONE; add their live concerts together in Europe and the U.S. and we are brought to the enveloping world of SPIRIT DOME.